Where to buy a baby mattress for a U.S. crib

Hello! I'm new to Frankfurt, and very new to this website. I'm 28 weeks pregnant and thought I was being all forward-thinking by paking a crib along with our move. However, I'm having the biggest difficulty finding a crib mattress with the right dimensions. It's a US crib and needs a mattress that measures 27 1/4 inches by 51 5/8 inches and no more than 6 inches high. Translating that to centimeters... it's about 69.5 x 133. Most mattresses here are either 60cm x 130cm or 70cm x 140cm. We've checked a few places and no one that we've talked to (yet) will custom make one. So basically, I'm trying to see if there is anyone out there who happens to have their US crib, but no longer needs it - and the mattress is in great shape. A long shot, I know.
As it happens, I'm flying back to the US tomorrow and plan to ask the Babies R Us in NYC what they can do about shipping directly to their stores here for us... My Aunt had looked into independent shipping costs which are rediculous and so. I just thought I'd try this.

Please let me know if you know of anything/or have any other advice...cheap ways to ship from the US... etc. I did try to reach out to some of the US army bases to see about used mattresses, but it's hard to figure out where to start.

Also - do you think using a "used" mattress is ok? I'm hoping that something "lightly used" is not so bad...

By the way - It's also nice to know there are other women on this board who moved here pregnant and are also trying to figure out the hebamme/krankenhaus/etc process of having a baby here.

Thanks for your time.

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Hi

Have you tried Ikea? They generally have strange size mattresses. Or you could also try getting a piece of foam cut to the right size. Foam you should be able to get at whatever thickness you want.

In my opinion I wouldn't use a used mattress unless you know the people. Babies and little kids tend to have accidents when they are in bed and not all people use mattress covers.

Good luck!
Mrscanuck

Hi, I am also pregnant (34 wks) and shopping for baby things in Germany has been kind of sad US cribs are much more functional (and cuter!) than German cribs (the sides move on ours!), but I've made peace with my German crib... it might be the cheapest solution to just buy a German one with a German mattress. I do know that JC Penney's ships internationally, so that might be a suggestion if you are set on the US crib? Also, a lot of my friends are from the UK and they are constantly ordering things from there (they have similar taste/products). They ship to Germany and it's not as far. Try www.mothercare.co.uk and for cute maternity clothing try Blooming Marvellous. If you are earning Euros the UK Pound won't be so bad. For all baby things, including maternity clothing (I got sick of H&M really fast!), try www.baby-walz.de. They have mattresses and everything else. Hope this helps!

My suggestion is that you buy a foam crib mattress from ikea which is a bit bigger and cut it down yourself.
With regards to the hebamme thing, i didn't find one who speaks english, so i didn't have one (except for the ones that help you at the hospital like a nurse).

Hi Why dont your try REAL near dreich... they hv a few american stuff..

Thank you all for the advice. I'm ok with the Hebamme and actually - we have a list of them, including those that speak English (at least in the Frankfurt area) so let me know if you need help in that arena. I'm currently in the US, but once I get home I will try to dig up a link to Hebammen because i think that same list we have is on-line.

I will definitely look into JCPenny and the other options mentioned. I don't know why but by Hub isn't too keen on buying a German crib just yet. Of course... we may just have to!

Thanks again.
Rene

Actually German cribs are not bad and if you go for quality you will not be disappointed. There are not as many recalls as they have in the U.S either .You just have to shop around. Also the mattress here in Germany are "suppose" to be better i think the one we have is the schlaffaria or something that sound like it. It breathes and is suppose to help with SIDs but thats what they say. I would definitely look around. Truthfully a crib is not really a big deal because if your kid hates the crib, you would have went through all of this stress and look back and think UGH.

Hi there,

JUST saw this post. Been off the site for a while. I have a seven and half month old and shipped a U.S. crib here. Maybe not the best idea but I'm glad I did it anyway. I couldn't find one here I liked that wasn't €800 and I DEFINITELY couldn't find bedding here that I liked to fit a German crib. Anyway, I ended-up being able to use a German mattress, which I think IS nicer. It is the 70 x 140 cm size. It's a snug fit, but that's actually better. I'm using my American crib bedding and sheets on it, too. Anyway, I have the Da Vinci Emily crib if you're familiar. Bought from Target. At one point, when agonizing over the exact same thing you are, I knew the exact dimensions of that crib and could tell you if the 70 x 140 would work for yours, as well. BUT, you can check online. The mattress is great, too. Also checked into shipping a mattress and it was outrageous. NOT worth it for sure. Don't know about the "gently used" thing. I guess as long as it's really clean, not stored in someone's cellar, etc it's probably fine.

Anyway, hope that helps. Totally been through the same logistical things. Kind of a pain in the a**, but sometimes you can make it work.

Tina